Russian athletes awaiting their Olympic fate
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Two groups of Russian athletes seeking late entry for the Pyeongchang Olympics had their appeals adjourned Wednesday, meaning decisions on their participation will come on the eve of the opening ceremony at the earliest.
The opening ceremony is set for Friday night.
A group of 32 Russians who were denied invitations to the Olympics because of evidence linking them to past doping had their case heard Wednesday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but no decision was made.
A second group of 15 lodged an application Wednesday seeking to force the International Olympic Committee to invite them to the Games. They were all banned last year for doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, but those verdicts were overturned last week by the CAS, sports’ highest court. The 13 athletes and two coaches in that group included cross-country skiing gold-medallist Alexander Legkov and skeleton gold-medallist Alexander Tretiakov.
CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb said the first hearing started Wednesday, but had been adjourned to Thursday at noon “in order to hear also the second case.”
“They want to consolidate the two cases,” Reeb said. “Possibly a final decision can be rendered at the end of the day tomorrow. If we need more time, perhaps it will be Friday morning.”
The group of 32 athletes — including six-time Olympic gold-medallist Viktor Ahn, three former NHL players and world biathlon champion Anton Shipulin — failed to pass mandatory IOC vetting, imposed as a result of Russian doping at the 2014 Games.
“While CAS is sitting today and considering us, I’m out training. I’m not giving up and I’m hoping for a positive result,” Shipulin said on social media.
If the Russians appealing their exclusion are successful, though, it would mean the medal contenders in some sports change dramatically.